Being at the right place at the right time can often feel like wishful thinking.
Especially when you’re showing up, day after day,
writing the words,
praying the prayers,
offering your obedience—
—and hearing nothing in return.
No feedback.
No open doors.
No visible fruit.
Just the sound of silence.
And yet…
You keep going.
Because deep down,
beneath the doubts and the second-guessing,
beneath the heartbreak of invisibility,
you still believe God is with you in this.
And you are still trusting His leading.
But that doesn’t mean it’s easy to know if you’re actually where you’re supposed to be.
What Does “Being at the Right Place at the Right Time” Really Mean?
The world talks about being at the right place at the right time like it’s something we can manufacture.
Hustle harder.
Network better.
Force the door open.
But Scripture paints a very different picture.
A picture of divine timing, not lucky timing.
Of positioning, not pushing.
Of grace, not grind.
There’s a Hebrew word that shows up in Genesis 24 that reframes this entire conversation—qarah—and it shows us that being at the right place at the right time is something God orchestrates, not something we force.
He is the One who aligns.
He is the One who sends.
He is the One who opens the well.
Qarah and the Story of Rebekah
In Genesis 24, we meet Abraham’s unnamed servant, entrusted with a sacred task:
Find a wife for Isaac—not from the Canaanites, but from Abraham’s homeland.
He had no idea who he was looking for.
He was given no further instructions.
He had simply been given a calling.
When the servant reached the city of Nahor, he stopped at a well and prayed:
“O Lord God of my master Abraham, please give me success this day…” (Gen. 24:12, NKJV)
The word translated “success” is the Hebrew word qarah—and this is the first time it appears in Scripture.
It means divine encounter.
A God-arranged meeting.
A moment of alignment.
In his prayer, the servant had asked the Lord for a very specific sign:
That the woman who offered to draw water not only for him, but also volunteered to water his ten camels, would be the one.
And right after he finished praying, Rebekah showed up.
She wasn’t looking for a husband.
She wasn’t seeking a divine assignment.
She was simply going about her day.
As she arrived at the well to draw water, she noticed Abraham’s servant and offered him water. Then, without prompting, she offered to draw water for all his camels too.
Exactly as the servant had prayed.
This wasn’t a coincidence.
This was qarah in action.
The unnamed servant immediately recognized God’s hand.
He watched in silent wonder as his impossible task unfolded before his eyes.
And when she had finished, he asked her who she was.
He learned that she was the granddaughter of Abraham’s brother.
Part of his family line.
And exactly the kind of woman Abraham had prayed for.
Waiting Without Wasting: What We Learn from the Servant’s Posture
What stands out in this story isn’t just that Rebekah was in the right place at the right time—it’s the posture of the servant as he waited for God to move.
He didn’t rush into town trying to make something happen.
He didn’t ask every woman at the well if she was single.
He didn’t run a personality assessment or check for chemistry.
He prayed.
He trusted.
And then he watched.
The servant positioned himself at the place of possibility—
but left the outcome in God’s hands.
That’s the posture of qarah.
Not passive.
Not grasping.
But surrendered and expectant.
Sometimes being at the right place at the right time is less about knowing where to go and more about being willing to wait well where you are.
Being at the Right Place and the Right Time in Ecclesiastes
Genesis 24 isn’t the only place Scripture speaks of being in the right place at the right time.
Ecclesiastes 9:11 says:
“The race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong,
nor bread to the wise, nor riches to men of understanding,
nor favor to men of skill;
but time and chance happen to them all.” (NKJV)
The Hebrew word translated “chance” here is “pega”—and it refers to an unexpected encounter or intercession.
It’s not a random roll of the dice.
It’s not luck.
It’s divine interruption.
And the word for “time”?
It’s “eth”—which means a due season, an appointed moment, a divinely ordered window in time.
So when Solomon says “time and chance happen to them all,” he’s not being cynical.
He’s reminding us that success doesn’t always follow logic.
It follows timing.
And alignment.
It’s not always the fastest runner or the smartest strategist who wins the race— but the one who crosses the finish line in their appointed time.
What This Means for You (and What It Doesn’t)
Being at the right place at the right time isn’t something you make happen.
It’s not something you earn.
It’s not something you can schedule.
And it’s definitely not something you force.
It’s something you receive.
Qarah isn’t the reward for having perfect faith.
It’s the fruit of a surrendered posture.
Like Abraham’s servant at the well—
you show up.
You pray.
You stay alert to what God is doing around you.
And then, in the ordinary moment, something sacred unfolds.
But here’s what this doesn’t mean:
It doesn’t mean you’ll always feel certain.
It doesn’t mean you’ll never wait.
It doesn’t mean you’ll get an obvious sign.
It means you can trust God to get you there—wherever “there” is.
It means you can let go of your tight grip on the timing,
the logistics,
and the pressure to prove anything.
Because qarah isn’t about striving.
It’s about alignment.
And more often than not,
it looks like obedience in the small things,
while God orchestrates the big ones.
If you’ve been waiting on your own “right time, right place,”
here’s a prayer to guide your heart back to rest:
Lord, I surrender my striving.
I let go of the pressure to make things happen in my own strength.
Teach me to trust Your timing,
to rest in Your provision,
and to believe that You know exactly where I need to be—and when.
Help me stay faithful in the small things,
open to Your leading,
and anchored in Your love.
Bring me into divine alignment,
and let my steps be led by Your Spirit.
In Jesus’ name, amen.
For a more personal reflection on this topic, you can read my latest post on Substack: “Praying for a Right Place, Right Time Encounter.”
With love and belief in you,
